CVE-2025-54227: Adobe InDesign Information Disclosure Flaw

CVE-2025-54227 Overview

Adobe InDesign Desktop contains an out-of-bounds read vulnerability that could expose sensitive process memory to attackers. The flaw affects InDesign Desktop versions 20.4, 19.5.4, and earlier releases on both Windows and macOS platforms. Exploitation requires user interaction, specifically opening a malicious InDesign file crafted by an attacker. Successful exploitation could disclose contents of adjacent memory regions, potentially exposing sensitive data or aiding subsequent attacks. The issue is tracked under CWE-125 and was addressed in Adobe's InDesign Security Advisory APSB25-79.

Critical Impact
Opening a crafted InDesign document can leak process memory to an attacker, potentially revealing sensitive information used in follow-on exploitation.

Affected Products

Adobe InDesign Desktop 20.4 and earlier
Adobe InDesign Desktop 19.5.4 and earlier
Apple macOS and Microsoft Windows installations of the above versions

Discovery Timeline

2025-08-12 - CVE-2025-54227 published to NVD
2026-06-17 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-54227

Vulnerability Analysis

The vulnerability is an out-of-bounds read condition in the InDesign Desktop file parser. When InDesign processes a specially crafted document, the application reads memory beyond the intended buffer boundary. This read operation exposes adjacent process memory that was never intended for the parsing context.

Disclosed memory can include heap metadata, pointers, or fragments of previously processed documents. Attackers can use this information to bypass address space layout randomization (ASLR) or stage more capable exploits. The confidentiality impact is high, while integrity and availability remain unaffected according to the CVSS vector.

The issue is local in nature. An attacker must convince a victim to open a malicious .indd or related InDesign file. No elevated privileges are required on the target system.

Root Cause

The defect stems from missing or incorrect bounds validation during parsing of attacker-controlled file structures. The parser reads beyond an allocated buffer when handling malformed length or offset fields, triggering the CWE-125 condition. Adobe's advisory does not disclose the specific file format element responsible.

Attack Vector

Exploitation follows a standard client-side file-format attack pattern. An attacker distributes a malicious InDesign document via email, shared storage, or a compromised website. The victim opens the file in a vulnerable InDesign version, triggering the out-of-bounds read. Sensitive memory contents can then be exfiltrated through the document's structure or subsequent renderer behavior.

No verified proof-of-concept code is publicly available for CVE-2025-54227.
Refer to the Adobe advisory (APSB25-79) for vendor-provided technical context.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-54227

Indicators of Compromise

Unexpected InDesign process crashes or abnormal exits shortly after opening a document from an untrusted source
InDesign opening files delivered via email attachments, chat, or unknown external drives
Anomalous child processes spawned by InDesign.exe on Windows or the InDesign bundle on macOS

Detection Strategies

Monitor endpoint telemetry for InDesign parsing crashes correlated with recently opened files
Inspect file provenance for .indd, .indl, .indt, and .idml files arriving from external senders
Correlate document open events with subsequent outbound network connections that may indicate exfiltration

Monitoring Recommendations

Ingest Adobe application logs and endpoint process telemetry into a centralized SIEM or data lake for correlation
Alert on execution of vulnerable InDesign versions (20.4, 19.5.4, and earlier) across the fleet
Track user-driven file open events for InDesign document formats sourced from email or web downloads

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-54227

Immediate Actions Required

Update Adobe InDesign Desktop to the fixed versions identified in APSB25-79
Inventory endpoints running InDesign 20.4, 19.5.4, or earlier and prioritize them for patching
Advise users not to open InDesign files received from untrusted or unverified sources

Patch Information

Adobe released fixes in the InDesign Security Advisory APSB25-79. Administrators should deploy the updated builds through Adobe Creative Cloud or enterprise deployment tooling. Verify installed versions post-deployment to confirm remediation.

Workarounds

Restrict InDesign document handling to trusted internal sources until patches are deployed
Use email gateway policies to quarantine or sandbox inbound InDesign file attachments
Apply application allowlisting to limit which users can launch InDesign on high-risk endpoints

bash

# Verify installed InDesign version on macOS
mdls -name kMDItemVersion "/Applications/Adobe InDesign 2024/Adobe InDesign 2024.app"

# Verify installed InDesign version on Windows (PowerShell)
Get-ItemProperty "HKLM:\Software\Adobe\InDesign\*" | Select-Object Version, DisplayName